Taro & butterfly pea sourdough
Homemade breads don’t always have to be a plain affair - there are many ways to make the bread an experiment in colour and flavour. Here, we have jazzed up our loaf with a swirl of butterfly pea dough for that blue colour. We’ve also tweaked the basic sourdough recipe and used steamed taro instead to make the bread texture softer. This is because steamed taro contains more moisture, making the resulting loaf more hydrated and moist, almost like an extra soft Hokkaido milk bread!
Recipe contributed by Stephanie [@sourdoughstephanie].
Ingredients:
White Taro Dough
200g flour
150g taro, pealed and steamed
50g active sourdough starter*
60ml coconut milk or full-cream milk
70ml water
4g salt
Butterfly Pea Dough
200g flour
50g active sourdough starter*
20-30 butterfly pea flowers
140ml boiling water
4g salt
Notes:
Active starter must be fed in the last 6-12 hours with a 1:1 ratio of flour and water and is bubbly
If active starter is not available, substitute with 3g of instant yeast with note that the resting period will be reduced to 45 minutes for the first proof and 1 hour for the second proof.
Method:
Step 1
Peel, steam and mash taro. Cool to room temperature.
Step 2
Combine with all other ingredients for white taro dough in one bowl, knead until smooth and stretchy (around 10 minutes by hand, 5 minutes with a dough mixer)
Step 3
Pout 140ml of boiling water over butterfly pea flower and cool to room temperature.
Step 4
Combine all other ingredients for butterfly pea dough in a second bowl and knead until smooth and stretchy.
Step 5
Proof both doughs for 2-3 hours. You can slap and fold every half an hour to help with gluten formation.
Step 6
Turn out both doughs on a lightly floured surface and stretch out until you have a long oval of around 50cm in length. The longer your dough, the more spiral layers you will get.
Step 7
Layer white taro dough on top of butterfly pea dough. Roll the combined dough together.
Step 8
Tuck in both ends of the dough and place your loaf in a proofing basket. Proof for around 2 - 2.5 hours, depending on your ambient temperature.
Step 9
Bake for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 degrees C.
Step 10
Let cool for 1 hour before cutting and enjoy!
